


Sunrise

by Alzul



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: All relationships are platonic, Punz is there for a bit, crossposted on wattpad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26461192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alzul/pseuds/Alzul
Summary: It's hard to take a war seriously when you can respawn, unless there was a way to prevent that. Wilbur and Dream recover memories that unlock a whole new forgotten portion of their life that can either tear them apart even further or finally make amends with their past.-------------------------------------------------------DreamSMP War AU but with my own twist[I promise the actual thing is better than this god awful summary]
Relationships: None
Comments: 17
Kudos: 153





	Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> This is a DreamSMP War AU but some of the things like dates, locations etc may not be accurate with the real war. 
> 
> The storyline in this takes a completely different turn than the actual thing so stick around (and maybe bring some tissues while you're at it)

Tommy immediately caught sight of Wilbur's hat through the side window of the very oddly located truck in the middle of L'Manberg and hushed the rest of the group, Tubbo, Eret, and Fundy, who for some reason had a suit that looked suspiciously like it was made out of crayons if that made any sense.

"Everyone." Wilbur swung the door wide opened to find his group waiting for him with eager eyes at their leader. 

"How's my little Fundy doing?" All of their eyes simultaneously lost all hope seeing Wilbur approach Fundy and started poking him in the cheek.

"I'm doing fine, but we have a war to fight." Fundy awkwardly pushed him away as Wilbur regained his composure and cleared his throat.

He took a glance around the room, giving a slight nod to every single member.

"Today gentlemen, we prepare to fight not for glory or riches, but for L'Manberg and our freedom!" Wilbur was immediately echoed by Tommy and Fundy letting out a cheer which was quickly shushed.

"I see you all have done your jobs." Wilbur turned around and started swiftly walking out with his hands clasp together behind him. The others quickly filed out after their leader into the small walled city of L'Manberg. 

The blackstone walls were one of their biggest achievements, decorated with different types of blocks and colours with each member adding their own special touches to make it feel more personalized. Each wall bordered with one of the four men's signature colours and Wilbur decorating the doorway with blue and black, representing the ocean that L'Manberg sat on the edge of.

Tubbo fiddled with their sleeves nervously, watching as Wilbur looked through the chests of supplies they had gathered and hoped it was enough.

"We couldn't get everyone full sets because my old base was ambushed by the Dream Team last night whilst Eret and I were still gathering thin-"

"It's fine Tubbo, the most important thing is you're here. These are more than enough." Wilbur reassured and took a look around at his people surrounding him. 

Tommy quickly grabbed a spare set he had kept on him, "Wilbur here, take this." 

With a nod Wilbur took it, "Tomorrow is the day we fight for our land, but we do not fight with swords but rather our words!" He dropped the armour straight into the small lake in the middle of L'Manberg which made Tommy and Tubbo share a nervous glance. 

"R-right." Tommy coughed out and held his hands behind his back.

"We may be out gunned, out manned." The sun rose behind him, illuminating his hair like wisps of golden string, "Out numbered and out planned, but we have each other and a nation to fight for. All they have for motivation is greed, and greed never prospers." 

In that moment Wilbur looked like an angel sent from the heavens, his uniform flowing in the wind with golden light surrounding him. The moment was short-lived.

"But I can't fight," He sighed and paced around causing his men to start to worry a bit, "I'm old and frail, I'm 23 for fucks sake. I'm gonna need a right hand man. Tommy!"

"Y-yes sir!" Tommy quickly rushed to his side, still eyeing the fallen diamond armour.

"I'm putting you in charge of the fight, although I'll be the one to do the talking. I know how riled up you get and we can't be having that happen." Tommy retreated back to the group with a nod.

"Follow me." Without warning Wilbur retreated back to the caravan with his little crew following like ducks behind him, Tommy and Tubbo quickly picked up the armour sat in the pond, walking in a pair whilst Fundy and Eret both looked down at the ground.

"Gents, we have one day left to prepare until war tomorrow. Fundy, I want you to reinforce our walls, make sure there are no weak points where Dream and his goons can get through." The man in the crayon suit gave a sharp nod and stepped back. 

"Eret, you're on armour and general supplies, blocks, tools, anything we need." Wilbur looked straight through his sun glasses which sent a slight shiver down his spine, his look alone could pierce through an enemy. 

"Tommy, Tubbo. I want you two to go back to the fallen embassy, salvage anything useful, any clues you could possibly gather towards their attack." The two nodded and Wilbur glanced at all of them. 

"What are you all waiting for? You heard the orders." Everyone quickly filed out of the room leaving a tired Wilbur leaning against his elbows on the table.

"I am too old for this." He sighed, "The country is only as powerful as it's leader." He grumbled, inside he knew, they all knew that the chances of them winning were almost next to none but they had hope. 

And maybe that would work. 

•••

"Wilbur sure seems confident."

Tubbo kicked a loose pebble on the wooden path, sighing. If only Dream was also that easy to kick around. If anything they were the pebble. 

"Don't sound so pessimistic Tubbo!" Tommy tried to cheer up his usually positive friend with a nudge, "That green bastard's reign of terror won't last much longer." A grin was plastered wide on his face.

Tommy lost some of the cheer in his voice as they approached the Embassy, flames were still lit on the exploded ground. The Embassy, his old home was gone. Reduced to rubble and craters on the side of a small hill. The weeks he had spent here had been erased with all that left a bitter reminder of the enemy. 

"Oh no they didn't." Tommy could feel something was off, something was missing. 

"THEY BLEW UP THE FUCKING CUCK SHED!" Tommy sprinted over to a small hole with Tubbo rushing closely behind. 

"Thi- this. This was the only thing left-" Tommy fell onto his knees at the piles if cobblestone laid on the floor. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder with comforting words. 

"This was the only thing left of Shlatt." Tommy felt tear almost coming to his eyes and sat down on the floor, blinking them back. The sign was still there, fallen on the ground. 

"Tommy we have to check the rest of the rubble." Tubbo budged him gently, aware of how much the shed had meant to him. 

"This is where I met Shlatt, where we had taken our first screenie, where he taught us economics, where- it's all g-gone." Tommy held the sign to his chest and took a deep breath in. 

"Alright let's go." His heart filled with rage but was quickly swallowed down behind sadness and grief for the lost memories. 

"I found some armour!" Tubbo shouted from what used to be his house, "Got some spare iron here and- oh a bar of netherite! I must've left it in one of your chests during a visit." The brunette had dug through the stone and found some undamaged chests. 

"Let's go check the sewers." Tommy pulled out a pickaxe and dug where he vaguely remember the ladder was till it finally revealed a small hole. 

The boys hopped from the rickety ladder into Tommy's old war room. 

"Remember this?" His hands brushed some of the dust off the old signs. 

"Fundy- Offender. Ultimate enemy Dweam, Tubbo-Clin- Hey! I am not! If anything you ar-" Tommy cut them off with a shush. 

"This isn't about you Tubbo, anyway there should be a couple chests down here."

The two made their way through narrow Blackstone corridors made long ago before the rise of L'manberg. True to his word Tommy found several chests containing useful supplies and other materials. 

"Bingo." Tommy said as he uncovered another chest of items, taking the valuables. 

"How long did you make these tunnels jeez?" Tubbo looked down at the dimly lit darkness in front of them, it looked like the tunnel was going on for hundreds of blocks. 

"Tubbo let's go!" Tommy gestured at his friend who was lagging behind him, staring into the dark. 

"There's nothing down those! I dug em halfway and never finished. Probably a good thing to be honest cause they were gonna lead straight to Dream's base." Satisfied with that Tubbo followed the blond boy up to the top of the ladder into the mid-summer sun. 

"Let's go, Wilbur will probably have more things for us to do." Tommy rolled his eyes and said.

"He sure seems calm for someone in war." Tubbo pointed out.

"A powerful country needs a powerful leader." Tommy sighed, he was slightly concerned about Wilbur. He knew when Wilbur was faking confidence. 

"Let's just head back." Tubbo walked forwards towards the path, avoiding holes in the ground from weeks of explosions, fighting, and grief. 

The boy with the red and white shirt sighed, "Do you think we could actually win Tubbo? I know none of us are saying it but, I don't kno-"

"Tommy shush." Tubbo interrupted, "That pessimistic thinking is gonna get you no where."

Tommy let out a dry laugh, "And you were the one bein' pessimistic on the way here."

"Shut up you." Tubbo lightly elbowed him in the side. 

"I really am sorry for all the times I've teased you Tubbo." Tommy pursed his lips in thought, "You're the best friend someone can ask for." 

Tubbo turned to him with a smile, "Don't worry 'bout it, it's all just messin' around at the end of the day." 

Tommy followed by Tubbo's side, inventories full of some supplies they thought could be useful. He honestly thought the trip went pretty well-

"Tommy watch OUT-" Tubbo suddenly shoved an unsuspecting Tommy to the ground, an arrow narrowly grazing his ear. 

They rushed to get up and turned around to a man wearing a white mask, laughing at them hauntingly, twirling a netherite dagger. 

"I'd hate to interrupt such a sweet moment but I'm afraid I have to."

"What do you want Dream the fight isn't until tomorrow." Tommy took a step forward and stood his ground against the green-wearing bastard.

Tubbo was rummaging through their inventory desperately trying to find pearls or something else useful as Tommy attempted to stall for time. 

"Dream we can talk about this. The fight isn't until tomorrow, this isn't necessary." Tommy said with a nervous laugh, backing up against Tubbo. 

The scene was incredibly one-sided, the best thing they had were probably just iron swords which wouldn't even let them stand a chance. 

"Sapnap. Go." 

Tommy instantly turned around and saw Sapnap, decked out in armour, appear from the hill behind them and grab Tubbo. 

"Tommy!" Tubbo pulled out an iron sword and struggled against Sapnap's grasp. Tommy immediately turned around to rush after Tubbo but Dream was quicker, pushing him down.

"What are you gonna do, kill us? We don't have anything you want." Tommy looked up and saw Tubbo in a losing fight. 

"Why would I do that?" Dream pushed down the tip of the blade on Tommy's neck, drawing a small bead of blood. 

"You're just gonna respawn, you're only useful to us alive."

Dream looked up at Sapnap. "Execute the plan. We're done here." 

"No!" Tommy pushed out Dream's legs and caught him off guard as he fell to the ground. 

"You're gonna pay for that you bitch." Dream grumbled and got up but Tommy was already running at Tubbo. 

"Don't look behind you." Sapnap said with an evil grin, pushing Tubbo back with his far more powerful sword towards the edge of the bridge. 

Distracted, Tubbo was pushed to the ground and Sapnap held them down but was quickly kicked off by Tommy. 

"Get off them bastard!" His iron sword narrowly missed Sapnap's neck and held him off. 

Sapnap retaliated immediately, slashing back with so much force Tommy fell backwards and stumbled. 

"Tubbo run!" Tommy noticed Dream running towards them and saw pearls in Tubbo's hands. Tubbo hesitated for a moment before seeing Tommy nod. 

"Fuck!" Sapnap turned and ran after Tubbo but they were far gone, only purple particles left where they where standing. 

Tommy's brief sense of victory was short-lived as Dream pushed him to the ground, fuming with anger.

"Well, since you messed up our little plan I guess you'll have to take their place." He growled and shoved a tranquilizer dart into his neck. 

The blonde's eyes closed against his will as the sun set in the distance. 

•••

"Wilbur! Wilbur!" 

Tubbo ran towards the small group huddled in the middle of L'Manberg. 

"Tubbo! Where's Tommy, and why are you bleeding are you ok?" Wilbur grabbed some health pots. 

"We- got ambushed- by Dream and Sapnap." Tubbo was slightly out of breath after sprinting as fast as they could back. 

"How did you escape?" Eret said with surprise in his voice. 

"Sapnap ambushed us from behind whilst we were facing Dream, Tommy managed to push him off of me and I ender pearled away." Tubbo replied glumly, facing the ground. 

"Oh my god I'm such a coward!" Tubbo kicked the grass angrily, "Maybe I could've escaped with Tommy if I hadn't been so useless." 

"Tubbo no, you did the right thing." Wilbur put a hand on their shoulder, "We'll get Tommy back." 

Tubbo nodded slowly. 

"Why would they want him anyway?" Fundy asked, concerned for Tommy. 

Tubbo shook his head, "No idea, but they originally planned to take me but they got Tommy instead." 

"He's probably gonna be used as leverage." Eret said calmly, his sunglasses masking any emotions he could've been showing. 

He looked down, "Going to use him as a bargaining chip, especially since he was so close to you Wil." 

"Yeah but wouldn't he just respawn?" Fundy brought up. The entire group looked like they just had a suddenly realization. 

"Not if Dream has Soul Pierce." Eret said in a low voice. 

Tubbo looked confused but saw fear in Wilbur's eyes, "Guys what's Soul Pierce?"

"When somebody is killed with a normal weapon their soul still remains in the lines of code holding the world together which is why we are able to respawn." Eret explained, "A weapon with Soul Pierce will do much more damage than normal causing wounds to take especially long to heal. If killed by a Soul Pierce weapon the soul shatters causing a permanent death." 

"Are you telling me Dream can PERMA KILL TOMMY?" Tubbo shouted and sat on the floor, head in their hands. 

"Are we sure Dream has this enchantment Eret." Wilbur looked him dead in the eyes, "There's no way. Only a handful of those even exist. The chances of him having it are basically next to none."

Eret responded with a cold voice, "Wilbur you know how Dream is, that man will do anything for power." 

"We have to get him back, and I have a plan." They all followed Eret back to his base. 

•••

Waking up after a tranquilizer dart was something Tommy never thought he was gonna have to experience, and something he doesn't want to go through again.

Tommy blinked open his tired eyes to find he was seated in a wooden chair, arms bound behind his back and legs tied to the chair legs.

"Hello Tommy."

The green bastard stood there, no armour this time but his mask was still on, showing nothing but a thin poorly drawn smile and black eyes. 

"Let me just say first off, you ruined our plans." He slammed his fist on the metal table in front of Tommy. 

"Wow did you guys have this room prepared." Tommy nervously laughed, trying to tone down the tension. "Are you happy to see me or what...." he quietly trailed off. 

"Our original plan was to get Tubbo, oh dear Tubbo. Too nice for their own good, they were such an easy target. Either recruit them to our side or get information and bargain them back to L'Manberg it was such a good plan." He exclaimed exasperatedly and sat down in front of Tommy. 

"But we end up with Mr Innit instead huh? None of your smart talk is gonna work on me bitch." Dream said in a serious tone, "I still don't understand how you manage to talk your way out of so many things. You're all talk and no action." The blonde leaned back. 

"Don't talk about Tubbo like that! They're their own person and has a better moral compass than the three of you combined!" Tommy gritted his teeth, "They would never join you bastards." 

"I wouldn't be so sure." Tommy could tell Dream had a smile on his face."You know the way you treat Tubbo, they deal with your bullshit whilst you just treat them like the remains of a bag of popcorn. Don't you think the moment we offer them their land back, power, their bees," Dream pulled out a bee box which Tommy immediately recognized. 

"Even if they didn't accept, we have our ways of getting information." Dream said casually whilst sliding a finger across his knife with a smile. 

Tommy coughed nervously, "Well that sure was a nice evil villain monologue, isn't this the part where I somehow talk my way out of here by hurting your pride and miraculously escape?" Giving it a shot wouldn't hurt. 

"Funny." Nothing in Dream's tone showed any sign of humor. "Sapnap, lock him up. Don't give him any weapons, if he manages to respawn then we would've done all that for nothing." 

"Yessir." Tommy's legs were cut free from the chair but his hands stayed tied behind his back. "Don't try anything Tommy, you'll just make this harder." 

"Wow yes because I could definitely take all of you in a fight." Tommy rolled his eyes but quickly shut up after Sapnap smacked him in the head. "Ow, that hurt you know. My brain is still developing."

No matter how serious Dream acted Tommy didn't take the war that deeply. After all they could respawn. That kind of eliminates a lot of the tension and risk. 

None of his efforts to lighten the mood succeeded in making the tension any better which just left Tommy walking awkwardly with the Dream team surrounding him. 

Tommy expected at least a little hospitality from his ex-friends but none was given. His arms were freed but the boy was quickly shoved into a small room, small windows showed the corridor and the iron door locked from the outside. 

He sat on the small bed in the corner, a small wooden door on the right led to a tiny bathroom. 

"Hey guys could I at least get some food. I'm starving." Tommy just couldn't take anything seriously, it was a bad habit on his part. 

A small slide on the door opened and a tray with some bread and honey slid through. Tommy sighed, at least it looked good enough to eat. 

He could hear quiet discussions outside as he munched on the stale bread, wondering if the honey was from Tubbo's bees. He hoped they were, it made him feel more at home. 

The boy sighed, there was nothing to do. His inventory had long been emptied by the Dream team and all that was left were some random seeds and a flower he had picked up near the cuck shed. 

The cuck shed, Tommy still hasn't forgotten. 

There was a clock on the wall above him, ticking away second after second, it felt as if time was slowing down the more he listened. 

His consciousness slowly went away as the hum of conversation died down and the clock ticked to midnight. 

•••

"Alright Tommy, don't make this difficult."

The blond boy rolled his eyes at the masked man in front of him and attempted to move his hands which were, surprised surprised, tied behind him. 

"I don't really think I can Dream." He said, a bored expression on his face but that didn't change Dream's serious posture.

No matter how hard Tommy tried he couldn't get a read on the stubborn man in front of him, he knew how incredibly intelligent Dream was. Sometimes it scared him.

"Tommy Tommy Tommy," Dream seemingly decided on a plan, "I know you're a business man. So how about we talk in your language, I want to discuss business." He pulled out a chair from the corner and sat down, hands closed on the table.

"What do you want Dream." Tommy was incredibly skeptical.

"To be blunt, we want you to join our side."

To say he was surprised was an understatement, confusion came next.

"Wha- why?" 

Dream sighed, maybe in disappointment, "Think about it Tommy, I know you're in charge of the fights. Wilbur can't defend himself against shit. If they lose their main fighter the war is already won, we'll give you your own piece of land in DreamSMP, George already has extra gear ready for you, all you have to do is help us win this already one sided war. Tommy, if you join us they'll have to surrender." 

He could tell Dream was looking at his facial expression, trying to get a read. Of course, Tommy knew full well that joining them would be the obvious answer, but Dream failed to take into account the one thing that set the two sides apart. Tommy wasn't fighting for greed. 

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to reject dear friend." 

A split second of surprise flashed over Dream before he quickly became neutral again only with anger laced in his actions. 

"Sapnap, take him back to the room. I can't deal with this bitch right now." 

"Hey who you calling bitc-" he recieved another smack to the head by Sapnap who took him back to his room. 

The lonely boy sighed in his tiny room, thankfully he wasn't claustrophobic or this would've been a lot worse. 

It was quite boring, he missed Tubbo, he missed his friends. 

"Speaking of Tubbo, how is he doing.", Tommy wondered whilst counting the ticks of the clock. 

•••

"Are you sure this will work?" Tubbo asked Eret. 

"I'm 100% sure, he won't see it coming."

The team had spent all of yesterday gathering supplies for invisibility potions that Tubbo had made this morning, all that's left was to create a distraction. And a distraction they shall do. 

"Eret are you sure you're alright with distracting? I could take your plac-" 

"Fundy I'll be fine." Eret smiled at him, sunglasses resting on his neutral face. "Besides, I'm sure I'll do a good job."

"The hard part is gonna be figuring out where Tommy is, although I think I know where." Tubbo rolled out a map on the floor. 

"I was doing some scouting earlier this week and saw Sapnap and George building around this area," he pointed towards Sapnap's house. "They were coming in and out a suspicious amount. I think they might be keeping Tommy in there although it's just a hunch."

"No that was probably to gather supplies, he'd probably be kept in the main building basement." Eret took a pencil and circled the location, "If we take Tommy's sewer system and keep digging then we'll probably end up at the place."

"How can you be so sure Eret." Wilbur shuffled around nervously, not noticing how calm and collected Eret was.

"Guess you could say I have a hunch." 

•••

This was becoming like a repetitive game. Tommy, to his surprise, was dragged out again later that day. 

"You guys couldn't have at least made two rooms? This is getting a bit boring." None of his efforts lessened any of the tension. He just couldn't understand why everyone was acting so serious. 

"Tommy, to put it lightly, we want information." Dream slammed his fist down, apparently he was done playing nice. 

"Listen buddy I appreciate the offe-"

Dream held up a crossbow with a red enchantment shimmer to Tommy's face, "Oh I assure you, you'll want to talk."

"A crossbow is an incredibly inefficient way to do this, why not use a swor-"

He was cut off by Dream grazing his cheek with the arrow and immediately stopped. His eyes widened. 

The wound on his cheek was burning, usually cuts don't hurt, especially when you take into account that people can respawn. Any cuts were usually just minor inconveniences. 

Not this one.

His cheek felt as if he had just been cut by pure acid, blood dripped down his chin as Tommy held in a scream, eye blinking back tears threatening to come through. 

It wasn't supposed to bleed the much either, why wasn't it stopping?

"Soul Pierce, incredibly deadly to players. One single cut can take up to weeks or even months to heal. Being killed by a Soul Pierce weapon leads to a permanent death." 

"How?" Tommy backed away as far as he could on the chair, eyes glued to the crossbow in Dream's hand.

Tommy knew about Soul Pierce, he had been taught what it was back in his old SMP, SMPEarth. He knew only a handful existed around the world. 

So how did Dream-

"There are only five owners of the Soul Pierce enchantment in the entire world." It was as if he could read Tommy's mind. 

"And well, luckily one happened to be close by."

No, it couldn't be.

"What did you do to Techno!" Tommy shouted at him, the masked man just laughed in response. 

"They say Technoblade never dies, but that's a lie. Don't worry he's not permanently dead, just, trapped. I had to make sure he wouldn't get in my way before I get my needs completed." 

"You spawn trapped him?" Tommy made a mental note to contact the AE and get Techno freed as soon as he could. 

Spawn trapping was considered an incredibly bad thing to do and usually avoided at all costs. It was almost as bad as a permadeath. Being forced to keep starving to death then respawning and living the same fate over and over again. 

"I'll give him three days at most before he finds a way out. He's smart, I almost didn't succeed." Dream said maniacally. 

Tommy shook his head, "What did you do to Phil?" 

Dream waved him off, "Do you really think I don't plan ahead Tommy. Phil's on a mission to the Americas, won't be back for at least another week, and that gives me plenty of time." He brandished the dangerous weapon in his hand. 

"Dream-Why?" Tommy just couldn't wrap his head around the green bastard's thinking, what did L'Manberg do to Dream that caused him to have to do this?

"Ask your dear leader Wilbur." Dream shouted, slamming his fist onto the desk. 

"Sleep tight Tommy." He took off his mask which let the blond see Dream's face, considered a rare occurence. His lips were pulled in a tight smile, eyes showing he hadn't slept in days. 

"Consider this a warning." Dream took the loaded crossbow and pressed the arrow against Tommy's arm, burning a wound into the poor boy. 

He thrashed in the chair but Dream just stared with a smile until he decided it was enough, a large gash remained on his forearm dripping blood down his elbow and on to the floor. Pure fear was the only thing you could describe Tommy's eyes with. 

"I'm done here, consider this a warning." Dream finished with a smile and walked out of the room, nodding to Sapnap. 

He took Tommy out of the bindings, consious of how the boy flinched. He felt his heart crack a little, they used to be such good friends. Him, Tommy, and Tubbo used to go on adventures together. Was Dream really in the right here. 

"Come on Tommy." Sapnap followed behind him to his room, no arm bindings this time. He was sure Dream traumatized him enough. 

He wasn't supposed to be sympathizing with the enemy, but Tommy looked so...scared.

"Here." Sapnap grabbed a roll of bandages out of his bag and threw it at Tommy once they got to their room. "Don't tell Dream I gave you this."

"T-thank you." Sapnap tried to ignore the quivering in the blonde's voice. 

He knew Dream had his reasons. It was too late to switch sides now. No matter how much he disagrees with his methods Dream was his friend. 

Tommy sat on the bed, knees to his chest, his arm newly bandaged and holding a piece up to his face to stop the bleeding. 

Normally he would be making jokes about the situation but his brain was still in shock. Pain..... he's never felt true pain before. 

Normal wounds would feel dull, numb, it's how they're able to die and respawn so easily. 

He would never take that for granted again. 

•••

"Dream here's some tea."

If there's anything Sapnap has learned over the years it's that tea calms Dream down. Especially herbal tea. 

"Thanks snapmap." Dream chuckled at his disappointed sigh. 

He took off his bandana, "Dream. Do you ever think you're taking it a little too far, you're traumatizing a child."

"He-" Dream looked down, "Wilbur needs to pay for what he did."

"Do you ever think that, maybe Wilbur couldn't have prevented it?" Sapnap put a hand on his friend's shoulder. 

Dream felt tears building up, struggling to keep it down they started falling from his eyes. 

"Dream?" Sapnap hugged his crying friend. 

"T-Tommy. He reminds me of her so much. Every time I see that blonde hair, blue eyes. The dumb jokes and sarcasm, every time I see him it's a reminder she's gone." Dream wiped his tears with his sleeve. "Sometimes I regret what I do Sapnap, but seeing him reminds me of her too much, it makes me angry and I just- I over react."

"Dream Dream shhhh, I've got you."

Even if Dream was the older one, sometimes you need friends to have your back. No matter the cost. 

•••

Tubbo couldn't sleep. This wasn't unusual. 

After 1 am passed on the clock they just sighed, there wasn't any point trying to sleep now.

They got up and threw on a green hoodie and runners. Their house felt empty without Tommy. Usually the blond boy would sleep over a lot, calling Tubbo the clingy one when he would show up to their house every morning.

Sure, Tubbo got teased a lot but it was all in good fun. They could stand up for themself. They weren't a materialistic person, even if Tommy took their things it didn't matter to Tubbo. They could just get them back, what they couldn't get back so easily was Tommy.

Tubbo sat on his roof, looking off at the moon and stars. They heard a small buzzing sound behind them. 

"Spunz?" Tubbo reached out their hand and a bee landed on it. "Hey little guy." 

The bee buzzed some more and then flew away into the night. 

Tomorrow was the day they'd get Tommy back. 

Tubbo hoped he was ok. 

•••

Tommy was most definitely not ok. 

The poor boy was shivering, blanket wrapped around him as he tried to sleep but ended up staring at the ticking clock. 

Eventually he fell asleep and woke up to sunlight shining through the tiny windows, too high to reach. 

He had no reflective surfaces but his arm wound seemed to have made progress healing over night so he assumed the same for his face. Tommy took off the bandages and re-wrapped them.

The boy stared at the door, wondering when Sapnap would come and get him. 

But he never came. 

By the time the clock said noon Tommy was a little puzzled. Usually he would come by 11. 

"Come here Tommy." Sapnap finally opened the door at 1, expecting some kind of remark at how late he was but it never came. 

He was walked to a different place, it looked like a living room. Tommy cautiously sat on the couch. 

A doorbell rung through the building. 

"Huh?" Sapnap looked up in confusion, heading to the stairs. 

Tommy was left alone, sitting on the couch trying to take up as little room as possible. This should've been the perfect time to try and escape, but he didn't. 

He was scared.

The room was probably another set up, something to make him feel more comfortable and then they're going to pull out another plot twist on him. Tommy was on edge this time, trusting nothing. 

Until he heard a block break behind him. 

His head whipped around to see a two block hole in the wall which definitely didn't used to be there. 

"Tommy!" The blonde held in a scream as an invisible force hugged him. 

He immediately pushed it off of him. Squinting at the invisible figure he made out who the person was. 

"Tubbo?" 

Invisibility wasn't perfect, if the person knew where and what to look for then you could see a very small shimmer outline of the person.

"Come on we don't have much time." He heard another voice, Wilbur, say.

He was grabbed and lead down the dark, claustrophobic tunnel.

"I can't see any of you." Tommy huffed, out of breath as they ran. 

"Oh right, we should be ok now." Tubbo pulled out buckets of milk and drank it, suddenly he appeared in front of Tommy. 

They continued running down the tunnel till they arrived at Tommy's sewers where there was a small open seating area. 

"What-guys how?"

"I can't believe Eret's plan worked." Wilbur said, grabbing Tommy in a hug, "Thank god you're alright." 

"Wait Tommy let me see your face." Fundy pulled Tommy away and lit up the area with a torch, facing Tommy's face to the left so he could see the cut. 

"I've never seen a wound like this." Fundy called Wilbur over, "What's this?"

The leader's eyes lit up in fear, "That's the mark of soul pierce."

"H-he stole Techno's soul pierce crossbow." Tommy said, telling Wilbur what happened to their old friend from SMPEarth.

"Ho- that's not possible. Techno would never even let that thing leave his enderchest!" Wilbur shouted. 

"Dream spawntrapped him, we need to contact Phil immediately." Tommy said, sitting down by Tubbo. 

"We can do that in a minute, the focus is you right now Tommy. Are you alright?"

The blonde thought for a second before pulling up his knees and hiding his face, "No." 

Tubbo put their hand on Tommy's shoulder, attempting to comfort the blond. 

"Did Dream do anything else?" Wilbur had a concerned look on his face.

Tommy nodded and rolled up his left sleeve showing the first cut. 

"Holy..." Fundy said as he took off the bandage. He had never seen anything like it, not even knowing what soul pierce was till two days ago.

"Wilbur?" The brunette's communicator on his wrist lit up, "Are you guys safe? Dream is heading back." Eret's voice rang through the small speaker into the Blackstone room. 

"We're in a safe location Eret, you did good. The plan worked perfectly." 

Fundy was trying to disinfect the cut and cleaning the wound with what he had on him, re-wrapping it after. He cleaned Tommy's face after. 

Tubbo watched anxiously, feeling useless as Wilbur talked with Eret and Fundy tried to help Tommy. 

The trio escorted Tommy back to L'Manberg, Tubbo not letting go of Tommy's hand the entire time. 

They gathered inside the caravan. 

"Fundy, you go contact the AE- actually no just call Phil directly. Here, take my communicator," Wilbur took off the communicator on his wrist and threw it to Fundy. 

Tubbo handed Tommy's communicator back from their inventory, Tommy didn't like to wear it, complained it chafed his skin. Usually he left it with Tubbo just to keep it safe. 

"Tommy tell us what happened." Wilbur pulled up a chair and sat down at the small desk, hands clasped together on the desk. 

The blonde sighed, "He tried to recruit me to join their side, said no obviously." Tommy rolled his eyes and Wilbur felt his heart fill with pride. 

"Their original plan was to take Tubbo, either convince them to join their side or bargain them back for information or surrender." Tommy explained, shaking off the feeling he was being watched. It was probably just paranoia. 

"He mentioned something, about you Wilbur." Tommy looked the Brit dead in the eyes, "When I asked him why he was doing all this. The only answer he gave me was ask your dear leader Wilbur." He looked away. 

Their leader pondered for a second before his head shot up and he ran out of the caravan. 

"Wilbur!" Tubbo ran after him, immediately followed by Tommy.

He was stood still, frozen at the doorway of L'Manberg staring off at the DreamSMP main head quarters. 

"I- I didn't realize. God I was so stupid of course I should've known." Wilbur angrily sighed, hand pulling at his hair. 

"W-Wilbur?" Tommy approached him with Tubbo close behind. 

"I should've known, if I remembered...

...then he would too."

•••

Tubbo got up at the brink of dawn, not like they were asleep anyways. 

Their eyes trailed to Tommy in the bed on the other side of the room, chest lightly rising and falling with each breath under the maroon blanket. 

Tubbo refused to let him out of their sight. 

Wilbur said they did the right thing, Tubbo knew they did the right thing. 

But they couldn't help the guilt, they let it happen. They let Tommy get hurt. 

Never again. 

Tubbo's seen Tommy in his darker times, they'd been friends since SMPEarth where they first met. 

It was very rare to see Tommy out of character, voice broken without the usual cocky and boldness, his eyes were frightened without their usual shimmer. Tubbo had seen it once before and decided they never wanted to let it happen again. 

But they did, they were selfish. Tubbo had 2 pearls it should've been easy to escape. If only they weren't so weak, maybe they could've fended off Sapnap and prevented this. 

Tubbo thought back to when Wilbur retreated to his home with distraught on his face, after he had muttered those last words their leader immediately headed back to his small house in L'Manberg, nothing else said which just left Tommy and Tubbo to figure out his cryptic message. 

The brunette turned at the sudden noise, only to see it was just Tommy shifting in his sleep. 

Tubbo sighed with a light smile, at least they were safe now. No object in the world could replace their best friend. 

They quietly crept out of the house as usual, throwing on a hoodie and grabbing some shoes. 

Silence was a rare thing, even at night the darkness was usually filled with the growling of mobs and other threats. 

The ladder on the side of his house was rickety and probably very dangerous but they kept forgetting to repair it. They'll do it another day.

Wind blew past, brushing his tangled hair which was long due for a cut. Procrastination was definitely something they had to work on. 

Tubbo laid down on the wooden roof, staring at the disappearing stars. It's quiet uptown. 

They let out a content sigh. Tubbo was an introvert at heart, they longed for these quiet peaceful moments. 

"Tubbo?" 

Their head snapped up to see Eret climbing up from the ladder and sitting down next to him. 

"Why are you up here so early?" He asked. 

"Wanna take a guess?"

Eret just nodded and sighed, "Today's a big day." 

Tubbo didn't respond. 

"I know why you're still awake." Eret put a hand on their shoulder, "You did the right thing Tubbo."

"I know!" Tubbo sighed loudly, "I know I did the right thing, but even though i know it I still feel like I let it happen. Just knowing it wasn't my fault doesn't make it hurt any less."

Tubbo faced Eret, "He got hurt because off me Eret. I nearly let him get killed permanently."

"Tubbo-"

They shook their head, "Why are emotions hard Eret. They refuse to work with logic, it's like when facts are clearly presented and the person just don't listen. Except in this case the person is, you."

"Tubbo, Tommy would've wanted you to escape." They nodded, remembering it was the blonde who had signaled them to go in the first place. 

"He doesn't blame you at all, he fended them off so you could escape. Besides, you saved him in the end."

Tubbo just started down at the roof and fiddled with their sleeves. 

"Ok think about it like this." Eret said, attempting a new way, "You had 2 options. Fight with Tommy or run. You know that you guys couldn't have overpowered them." Tubbo nodded. 

"The only logical choice was for you to escape." Eret said. 

"T-thanks Eret, I needed that. My emotions wouldn't let me think straight." Tubbo laid back down again. 

"Why are things always so complicated."

"Trust me, if they were easy the world would be a lot more boring."

But sometimes Tubbo likes boring. 

•••

The air was thick with tension as the two sides stared each other off. 

"Drea-"

"I don't see any white flags Wilbur." He said menacingly, Dream had his trio of Sapnap, George and Punz stood beside him. 

The people of L'Manberg definitely didn't look as confident, Tommy was half hidden behind Wilbur and Tubbo, not looking Dream in the eyes. Fundy and Eret were on either side of Wilbur.

"Dream I want to talk this out." Wilbur approached Dream with his palms up but they retreated back. 

"You know I stick to my word Wilbur." Dream said and placed down a single piece of TNT. 

Fundy rushed to break it but was held off by George with a crossbow, "Don't touch it." 

"One last chance Wilbur, make your choice."

He thought for a moment. 

"Independence or death. If we have no independence then we would rather die than join DreamSMP."

Dream stood still, then started laughing a slow taunting laugh. 

"Well I assure you, you'll be regretting that."

Sapnap lit the TNT with a flame bow and they all rushed back from the explosion, but then it didn't stop. 

Tubbo's eyes widened as they saw the explosion spread to even more TNT planted beneath L'manberg. They grabbed Tommy's hand and rushed them away from the explosions. 

The entire group was shocked, there was no way someone could've snuck in and planted the trap. Usually atleast one person would be in L'Manberg at all times. 

Tubbo finally slowed to catch their breath only to be caught by Punz's netherite sword which was blocked by Tommy's diamond one.

That's when the fighting really began. 

Everyone was fighting someone else, Tubbo and Tommy taking down Punz together. Out of the corner of Tommy's eye he saw Wilbur desperately trying to parry Dream's attacks, Fundy holding his own against Sapnap and Eret fighting with George. 

Tubbo and Tommy worked perfectly as a team, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. The two managed to quickly take down Punz as a duo. 

Punz was slain by TommyInnit

This caused the remaining DreamSMP members to retreat back to wait for their ally to respawning which relieved Wilbur. He wasn't going to last much longer. 

"Gents, I have something to show you all." Eret said after they huddled together, preparing for another fight. 

"Kind of a, secret weapon if you will." The man with the sunglasses led the L'Manbergians into his small house under a never seen before trapdoor. 

"Woah Eret where does this lead?" Tubbo wondered out loud only to be met by a laugh not answering their question. 

Eventually they came out of the claustrophobic tunnel to be met with a tiny room and chests labeled with each of their names, a button labeled final control in the center. 

"Why didn't you tell us Eret?" Wilbur said with a hopeful look on his face as he walked towards his chest. 

"Wanted it to be, a surprise."

"This is empty." Tubbo realized, alarmed. 

"Eret?" Tommy asked, almost as quiet as a whisper. 

"Down with with revolution boys." Eret turned around to face them, his sunglasses in his right hand showing off pure white eyes.

"It was never meant to be."

Immediately he pressed the button and four doors on all sides of the room opened to reveal their enemies waiting behind. 

"RUN!" Wilbur yelled as the group attempted to fight off the attacks and escape, Tommy rapidly pulling out some stone to block the exit. 

"Shit shit." Tommy muttered as the message "Fundy was slain by Sapnap" popped up on his communicator. 

"Listen Eret, and I mean this in the nicest way possible. You fucked up." Tommy yelled as they escaped. 

The remaining trio managed to run up the way they had came from and Tommy blocked off the route making the enemies slower. 

They ran up just in time to see Fundy run out of his house after respawning.

"Follow me!" Tommy led them to the edge of L'Manberg and dug down revealing a ladder. 

The four of them rushed in with Tommy being last and blocking the way in so they couldn't be found.

The tunnel was claustrophobic but that was in the least of Tommy's worries right now. Eventually they ended up at an obsidian room with an ender chest. 

"Everyone in." Tommy rushed them and grabbed some obsidian he kept in the ender chest to block off the way they came from. 

"So uh- how are we all?" 

No one else laughed, they all looked like absolute hell except for Fundy who had respawned with a new set of clothes. 

"Tommy, what is this?" Wilbur asked. 

"Haha well you see I knew the chances of us winning were, let's just say not very likely. So I built this just in case." The blond pulled a jukebox and disc out of the chest. 

"I never really thought we were honestly gonna need this, I assumed I could've shown you all after and you would've been like "Wow Tommy you're so smart and cool." He sighed. 

"I- I can't believe Eret of all people." Fundy stuttered out. 

"He helped save you! He's the one that gave us the plan!" Tubbo exclaimed. 

Wilbur sighed, "God I should've known. Eret just knew their plans too well to not have been cooperating with the enemy. The rescue must've been pre-planned. Probably just to make us trust him."

"That bastard." Tubbo said with fire in their eyes. 

"He must've been the one to set all that TNT, god I'm so stupid!" Wilbur kicked the ground angrily. 

Tommy held his prized possession, his music disc cat, and placed it into the jukebox. 

"Well guys, any final words?" He said with a humorless laugh. 

They all listened in silence with mixed emotions of grief, sadness and anger.

Wilbur eventually seemed to come to a decision, "I'm going to go negotiate our surrender."

"But Wilbur-"

"Tommy no." He said sternly, "I'm not having any more casualties. What kind of general would I be if I just led my men into a massacre."

The blond knew he was right.

"Tommy I want you to come with me, but let me do the talking. Don't let your emotions get the best of you." 

He nodded. 

•••

"Dream."

"Wilbur." 

The two stood on the pathway over the bridge with Tommy awkwardly standing beside the brunette. 

"I want to see white flags."

"Drea-"

"White flags."

"I-"

"WHITE. FLAGS-"

"DREAM IS THIS WHAT NIKI WOULD'VE WANTED?" Wilbur shouted at him which stunned the person in front of him. 

"So you do-"

"Of course I remember Dream. And I was an idiot to think you wouldn't too." Wilbur said with sincerity.

"Y-you don't know anything about what she wants-"

"Dream, Niki didn't die that night. I did."

They were both so quiet Tommy swore he could hear their heartbeats.

"What- how?"

"Don't you question it Dream?" Wilbur said, emotion pouring out in his words, "Why the memory suddenly comes up now?"

"That night shouldn't have happened, the chances of it were impossible. But it did." Wilbur said. 

"But it did." Dream repeated. 

"Dream I loved your sister as much as you did!" Wilbur cried, tears threatening to spill out. 

"A skeleton spawning with a Soul Pierce bow. A mob even spawning with it has never even been heard of before, the chances so slim that no one ever thought it was possible." He felt a tear roll down his cheek. 

"I was with Niki as you know, she's incredible at coding. Her intelligence far too high for her age." Wilbur looked him dead in the eyes.

"I was shot that night by the soul pierce skeleton, Niki recognized the glow of the enchantment and slayed the mob but it was too late. I was dead."

Tommy felt his brain spin, how come he had never heard of this till now?

"She- she hacked into the code. Replaced my name with hers."

"No-"

"And then she removed all traces of the incident from our minds." Wilbur wiped his tears coming down with a sleeve, "We didn't remember till the newest patch, 1.16. Back then it was still 1.8, which it why her old code released the memories back."

"D-does that mean we can get her back?"

".....No."

Dream sat down on the bridge followed by Wilbur. Tommy felt like he had just intruded on a very personal moment.

"W-Wilbur I- I'm so sorry." Dream looked at him, "I- I didn't know."

"It's not your fault Dream." Wilbur pulled him into a hug which the other graciously accepted. 

Dream put his head in his hands, "This whole time, I thought it was your fault. B-but now-"

"I- I think I have to move on now. It's been years." Dream said quietly, "It's what she would've wanted." Wilbur nodded in silent agreement. 

"Let's- let's stop taking this so seriously." Dream said and got up a little shakily and pulled Wilbur up after him. Tommy returned by his side. 

"Friends?" Wilbur held out his this which Dream accepted.

"Agreed. Although we technically still are in a war."

"Right, right." Dream stared off at L'Manberg, "Your terms of surrender."

"Actually Dream, how about we have a duel. If I win we gain our independence." Wilbur offered. 

"And if I win?" Dream smirked. 

"What do you want Dream?" Wilbur puzzled. 

He pondered for a second as his eyes drifted to Tommy, "I want Mellohi."

Wilbur sharply turned to the boy beside him who took a step back and looked at Wilbur.

"What do I do Wilbur?" He whispered. 

Wil sighed, "Tommy I want you to do whatever your heart says to." 

The boy stood frozen for a few seconds, contemplating the decision. 

"I-I trust you." Tommy turned back.

"Dream, I accept," He had noticeable surprise on his face that quickly formed back to his usual light smile.

"We meet here at dusk, oneshot bow duel, deal?" Wilbur held out a hand. 

Dream hesitated for a moment before accepting.

"Deal."

•••

Wilbur faced Dream head on in the middle of the bridge with his allies standing close by. 

Nodding, Dream took a splash potion of poison and hit both of them with it, getting them both down to half a heart. 

"George, hand me a bow." The brunette rummaged through Dream's bag and pulled out the first crossbow he could find.

Tommy was stood at the ledge above the middle of the bridge, right above the two. 

"Ready?" Wilbur asked, his back to Dream. 

"Ready." He confirmed. 

"One.." Tommy raised his hand and put it back down, his legs shaking a little. 

"Two.." It was too late to back out now, especially with his disc or independence at stake. 

"Three.." Even if Wilbur couldn't melee Tommy has seen him with a bow, probably skilled enough to rival George or Sapnap. 

"Four.." But to rival Dream? He may have to pray that luck is on his side. 

"Five.." The number echoed through the quiet battlefield. No one dared make a sound. 

"Six.." Tommy had to start forcing out the numbers now, with every swallow felt as if his saliva was pure lead. 

"Seven.." He noticed something, was Dream's bow enchanted?

"Eight.." Why was it red?

"N-nine.." His eyes lingered on the bow, it looked familiar. 

"Te-" Tommy remembered what it was but not soon enough. 

The blonde jumped off the ledge right in the middle of the two right as Dream turned around and shot.

Tommy fell to the ground. 

"Tommy!" Wilbur saw his fallen friend on the ground and rushed over immediately as Dream did the same. 

"H- he's not respawning!" Tubbo ran down from the viewing area where everyone else was. 

"H-his body shouldn't still be here you shot him straight in the chest!" Wilbur noticed Tommy still breathing. 

"T-the b-bow." Tommy struggled to get out, "I-I noticed too late." He grimaced in pain. 

Wilbur's eyes shot up as he took a look at Dream's bow. 

"Dream!" 

The blond turned around and picked up his fallen bow.

"George you gave me the soul pierce bow!" Dream cried out and ran back to Tommy, "Someone get me the med kit in my bag right now!"

George and Sapnap both ran down to help Dream as Tubbo kneeled by Tommy's side. 

"I- I'm so sorry I couldn't tell that bow from the others!" George said, tears threatening to spill out, "I'm colorblind!"

"Oh my god Tommy w-why did you jump?" Wilbur asked, eyes threatening to fill with tears. 

Tubbo held Tommy's head in his lap, hands combing his hair with hips hands, "Shhh Tommy you'll be alright." And Tubbo prayed they were right. Their voice was trembling but they hoped Tommy didn't notice. 

"T-tubbo I- I'm sorry if I w-was a b-bad frie-" he cut himself off with a cough. 

Tubbo felt tears streaming down, "Tommy you were the best friend someone could ask for I- I love you like family."

"I l-love you too you s-sap." He mumbled followed by a dry laugh. 

"Dream this isn't working! The bleeding isn't stopping!" Sapnap said as the Soul Pierce effect spread through Tommy's blood and made him glow a light red aura around his chest. 

"T-Tommy please I can't lose you too." Wilbur held his hand, this was all too familiar. 

"I- I'll miss you guys." Tommy could feel the effect growing stronger, his body glowing brighter. 

"And Wilbur?" The brunette looked at the blond through teary eyes, "Y-yes?"

"I'll say hi to Niki for you." 

With that final message his heart beat stopped and his body glowed a bright red, flashing a bright light which made everyone turn away. 

By the end all that was left was a L'Manberg hat sitting where Tommy was just moments ago. Now only present in their memories. 

"T-Tommy- NO!" Tubbo grasped the hat as if trying to retrieve his lost friend, tears falling down. 

Nobody said a word, but they were all feeling the same thing. 

Grief, and guilt. 

•••

The hat rests on a quartz cross with Tommy's name engraved into it. 

TommyInnit  
A friend to some, an enemy to many,  
And a fighter till the end. 

Everyone felt guilty. 

Tubbo, he should've seen it first. 

Punz, he was the closest to the bridge.

Sapnap, he should've double checked.

Fundy, he should've talked Wilbur out of it in the first place. 

Eret, maybe if he hadn't have betrayed them they wouldn't have needed the duel. 

George, he shouldn't have been so careless. 

Wilbur shouldn't have challenged him in the first place,

Dream shouldn't have let go. 

The funeral was long and bitter, Tubbo being no doubt hit the hardest. Even after everyone left he was sat there on the grave, Tommy's hat in his hands. Everyone else knew how close the boys were, practically joined at the hip everywhere they went. 

Even if Tommy acted rude it was all just an act. Even if he pretended he didn't like Tubbo. 

Oh how Tubbo prayed for Tommy to call them clingy one last time. 

They were once again sat on the roof, staring at the night sky filled with stars. 

"Remember when I taught you constellations and you called them dumb Tommy?" Tubbo whispered, "Well. In ancient Greek mythology sometimes people turn into constellations. Maybe you will be one with the stars too."

They sighed, "I hope you're happy wherever you are. Wilbur told us about Niki and hopefully you said hi to her. Gotta keep your promises." Tubbo let out a pained giggle.

"This is dumb, but something inside me tells me you're listening." Tubbo stood up.

"Don't worry Tommy, your sacrifice won't be in vain." They put a single hand up to the sky as the sun started peeking out from the horizon. 

"The sun rises and so shall we."

I'll see you tomorrow Tommy, I have to go now.

Bye Tubbo, I miss you.


End file.
